The TV droned softly in the background and eighteen-year-old Frank Hardy slept peacefully on the couch. A physics textbook lay haphazardly across his chest; its final resting place after it had slipped from its owners grasp during a night time study session.

Suddenly, the front door slammed shut and Frank awoke with a start, knocking the book to the floor. His heart was pounding a million miles an hour, but it slowed when he saw his sixteen-year-old brother enter the living room.

"Geez Joe, you scared me half to death," Frank muttered in a slightly annoyed tone of voice. "I was asleep and I thought you were someone trying to break in."

"I didn't mean to slam it," Joe retorted. "Besides, as if a thief would make that much noise while breaking in," he continued sarcastically, before throwing himself into the couch opposite Frank and sighing loudly. He slid his feet from his sneakers and tucked his feet up under his body.

Frank frowned at his brother's demeanour and tone of voice. "What's up with you?"

Joe shifted slightly and looked away from Frank. "Nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing," Frank pressed. "I thought you were hanging out with Iola tonight? I didn't expect to see you back so soon." He could see that Iola and Joe's friendship had been developing into a bit more than that over the past few months and he and Chet, one of his closest friends and Iola's older brother, had enjoyed teasing them relentlessly about it.

Joe raked his hands through his blonde hair and glanced back towards Frank. "Yeah well, we were and now we're not, ok?"

"Did you guys have a fight about something?" Frank inquired with concern.

"Kind of. Not really. I don't know… sort of," Joe replied. "I don't want to talk about it." He picked up the remote from the small wooden table beside him and clicked angrily in the direction of the TV, increasing the volume. He stared blankly at the screen, not taking in anything he was hearing.

Frank got up from the couch, walked over to the TV and switched it off. "Come on Joe, what happened? It's obviously bothering you."

"I was watching that, Frank!" Joe burst out angrily.

"No you weren't," Frank responded calmly. "I'm keeping the remote until you tell me what's got you so annoyed and upset. Besides, I'm a pretty good listener and I care about you, bro." He walked over and sat down next to Joe on the edge of the couch, being careful to leave him a little space.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it," Joe sighed. "Besides, it's kind of lame anyway." He turned to face his brother. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"I'm sure it's not that lame," replied Frank. "You know, I've been with Callie for almost two years now, and this is all kind of new for you. If you tell me what's going on, I might be able to give you some advice."

Joe thought about this for a moment. "Maybe," he said thoughtfully. "Things seem to be going ok for you guys."

Frank smiled a little at the thought of his intelligent, kind and beautiful girlfriend. "Yeah, she's pretty great. But so is Iola; you two have been practically inseparable lately and I'm sure you'll work things out."

"I know she's great; she means so much to me," Joe replied. Almost inaudibly, he continued, "I told her that I loved her earlier on tonight."

Frank tried to mask the shock that flashed fleetingly across his face. This was the first time that he'd ever really heard his brother acknowledge that he and Iola were more than their standard line of "just friends".

Joe continued on. "Do you know what she said back to me?"

Frank shook his head. "That she loves you too? I don't see the problem."

"Wrong. She said 'thanks'. Not even 'thanks, I love you too'. Just 'thanks', and nothing else. I can't believe I told her that, I seriously thought she felt the same way." Joe let out a heavy sigh. "I feel so stupid."

"It's not stupid to tell someone how you feel about them, Joe," Frank replied. "Maybe she just wasn't expecting you to say that to her and didn't know how to react? Give her some time to think things over and I'm sure you guys will work things out."

"I'm going to have to change my name and move," Joe wailed dramatically. "I'm never going to be able to face her again."

Frank tried to stifle a laugh, unsuccessfully. "Don't you think there's a slight chance that you're overreacting just a little, bro?"

Joe's blue eyes flashed angrily as he glared at Frank. "I'm glad my suffering is so amusing for you. I thought you said you were going to help me, not mock me." He got up off the couch and stormed from the living room, heading for his bedroom.

Frank heard a door slam shut loudly and sighed. "Come on, Joe…wait a moment," he called after him. "I'm sorry, you're right. I didn't mean to make fun of your situation. He walked over to Joe's bedroom and knocked on his door. "Joe?"

There was no answer from inside. "Seriously Joe, I'm sorry. Let me in so we can talk about this some more." Frank leaned heavily against the wall, waiting for his brother to respond. Joe's personality had been particularly moody and erratic lately, but Frank had tried to ignore it largely. He remembered all of the same feelings and emotions that he'd gone through when he was Joe's age and just starting to fall for Callie. He knocked on the door again. "Open up, bro."

Loud music began to blare from inside the bedroom and Frank took that as his cue to give up any hope of talking to Joe that night. With a sigh, he turned around and headed back to the living room, grateful that his parents and aunt had gone away for the weekend and didn't have to witness his brother's attempt to win an Oscar for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Performance".